It's been nearly three weeks since Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, depriving most of the island of its electricity, cell service, infrastructure, and drinking water. And though the local government is finally able to deliver supplies to localities outside the main city of San Juan, residents say they're not getting water and other goods to people in need fast enough, prompting Puerto Rico's governor to proclaim there'll be "hell to pay" if distributors hold food and water hostage.
The Times reports that though water has been now been distributed to 60 percent of the island, some sections on the north side of the island are only at 20 percent. "I think that there are places where water is being withheld and food is being withheld," Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossello said today. "We need to showcase it, we need to push it forward to the people."
He has mandated a full investigation into supply delivery. "If there is a place, a locality that is not delivering food to the people of Puerto Rico that need it, there's going to be some hell to pay," he said.
Puerto Rico has struggled to deliver supplies to those in need since Maria hit. Thanks to destroyed roads and gasoline shortages, ships and planes filled with donated goods sat idle in ports and the San Juan airport, and the cargo is just now making their way to residents. Some Puerto Ricans who live outside of San Juan say they haven't seen or heard from any local or federal officials since the storm.
"We have had zero help. Nobody has come here, and it is the same in many other places," Jesús Torres, who lives in the town of Morovis, told the Village Voice. A resident in the neighboring town of Orocovis whose home is falling apart told the website, "Only one person from the municipality came over, and gave us some fruit, water, and a few other things. But no one else has come around here."
The Trump administration has been praising itself for its response in Puerto Rico, with the President claiming on Twitter yesterday, "Nobody could have done what I’ve done for Puerto Rico with so little appreciation." Still, critics have pointed out that it took the President weeks to visit the devastated island, and noted that during his brief visit he told Puerto Ricans they've "thrown our budget a little out of whack," used erroneous facts to compare Hurricane Maria with 2005's Hurricane Katrina, and threw paper towel rolls at residents during a photo op. Trump defended his conduct in an interview with Mike Huckabee this weekend, describing the towel toss ("They had these beautiful, soft towels. Very good towels," he said) and telling the conservative former governor of Arkansas, "I was having fun."
